‘Sherlock Holmes Detective Story Game’ is a paragraph based story game, designed to be played solo, where the player determines the actions of Holmes and his companion Watson to help them solve various crimes in Victorian England. Paragraphs are read in sequence as determined by the rules and tables, describing new situations, locations and characters, providing clues and throwing red herrings in your path in your pursuit of the truth. Each game will provide a new playing experience, since no two games will play out the same way.

SHDSG is comprised of three booklets: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (comprised of Rules and Adventures), The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. You will need all three booklets and a few 6-sided dice (d6) to play the game. Future expansions will be available to supplement the rules, develop existing cases and solve new crimes.

You will read various numbered sections one after another but the sequence of paragraphs is determined by rules and tables. Each describes a new situation, or provides rules about the choices and actions you can make. There are plenty of events and situations, so each game will be a new, fresh experience. Ultimately it is also about your skill as a role player to piece the elements together.

SHDSG is an adventure game played in turns. A standard turn starts with you selecting an Action, such as Exploring, Planning or Investigating before. Generally in an Adventure, you will try to defeat a Villain. This is done by gaining Clue events to find out what has been happening and then reveal the Villain. Once you know the identity of the Villain you must try to discover their Motive and gain enough insight to Arrest them for their crimes!